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Wheel of Science

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Around 1600 A .D . it became apparent to sever scientists such as Galileo , Frances bacon and Tycho Brahe that the deductive methods while wildly successful in mathematics , did not fit well with the scientific investigations of nature (Inductive , 2004 . To use the deductive method you must start with simple , true statements about the way the world works , then you build your logical system of nature based on these statements . If those statements are true , then it follows that everything

else will also be true , however Galileo and his contemporaries realized how difficult it is to develop those simple true statements about the way the world works (Inductive , 2004

Therefore , the inductive reasoning (sometimes called the scientific method ) can be characterized as the deductive method turned upside down (Inductive , 2004 . The inductive methods starts with many observations of nature , with the ultimate goal of finding a few powerful statements about how nature works . Therefore , although math is definitely deductive in nature , or , logical proof is the only acceptable evidence of truth , the process of math is not entirely deductive , just as science is mostly inductive by nature , the process of science can be deductive as well (Inductive , 2004

Inductive reasoning draws conclusions based on several examples of situations , while deductive reasoning is more specific and applies a generalization to a particular case , i .e . All people are mortal therefore I am mortal (Best , 2004

Deductive reasoning would tend to say that : That rose bush has thorns I pricked my finger on the thorns , therefore all flowers are dangerous ' although probably not to such an extreme degree ! Inductive reasoning would more likely say , That rose bush has thorns and they are prickly , but it smells good , that lilac bush has no thorns and smells good , those carnations are deep red , and smell good therefore flowers smell good

Conceptualization is the process of taking a raw idea and giving it a theoretical definition . In other words , if we take the word participation ' which is a general idea of the activities by private citizens aimed at influencing governmental operations , we can then say in a more specific way that the conceptual definition of participation equals voter turnout in the year 2004 (NC , 2006 . Conceptualization comes down to what needs to be studied , what do we need to know to fully understand a concept or to be successfully in communications . The research for conceptualization is cyclical , cumulative question-oriented and creative (NC , 2006

Operationalization takes a conceptual definition and attempts to make it more precise by linking it to a definition . In other words , if our conceptual definition of participation is Voter turnout in 2004 , our operational definition would be the number of people who actually vote in the 2004 presidential elections divided by the number of people who are actually eligible to vote (NC , 2006

Reliability encompasses the consistency or stability of empirical indicators from measurement to measurement , and a reliable instrument will yield the...